All about me!

The main purpose of my blog is to share my love for paper crafting. However, that is not the best part of my life. The best part of my life is my family! On this page I will share some of that. 

I was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands. We immigrated to the USA when I was 8 years old to Glenside, Pennsylvania. When I was a freshman in high school we moved to Florida and I have been here ever since. I met my husband in college and we were married in December of 1971. We have 8 wonderful children. Due to medical problems we could not conceive so all of our children are adopted. They are all different and have enhanced our family with their unique gifts. We now have 18 grandchildren some of them are adopted. Our family and our church are first in our life. I am a teacher in a Catholic School where our children attended and now some of our grandchildren attend. That is much more fun then when it was my own kids in the school where mom works!

Life is great and I thank God daily for all of the blessings He has bestowed upon us. We are very devoted to our church and our faith. Jerry and I are Catholic although I was raised protestant. My brother is a minister and he and his wife were missionaries in Europe for quite a number of years. We are very close. My sister and her husband are Catholic also and work in another local parish as music directors. Our faith is very important to all of us! My husband's family is also very close to us - in fact my 2 best friends in the world are two of my sisters in law - how lucky is that! One of them is a practicing Catholic and the other is a practicing Protestant. 

We are blessed to still have Jerry's parents and my dad. My mother went home this year. 

Our Blessings:

Yes, that is me with 15 of the grandchildren. 1 was not in the photo, 1 additional grandchild was born on March 21 and another is due on April 30.

The oldest is 38 and married. He and his wife have adopted 6 wonderful children.  For those of you who have been following my blog you know that the finalization of the adoptions for the last 4 was just last year. They are now all legally Flachs and part of the Flock! This year all 6 go to the school where I teach where they are in 1st through 5th grade.

The second oldest is also married and he and his wife have 3 beautiful children. Two of them attend the school where I teach. They are in 5th and 3nd grades. It is such fun having them there. As you can see there is another Flach on the way. And baby Beau is here being held by his big sister Ella!

The third oldest is from Korea and mentally challenged. She lives with another handicapped woman and loves to make cards! She is 34 years old but only about 5 mentally. She is a joy! I ask for prayers for her because she has been without a job for over a year now - the economy has hurt her terribly!

The 4th has 3 wonderful children. They are our oldest grandsons. She is a nurse and is very active in her church.

The 5th is not married but he does have a wonderful son who has a wonderful mother. We see them several times a year and keep in touch through e-mail, cards and pictures.

The 6th was born with CP but has earned his Masters Degree and now works for the university alumni association (FSU) where he attended. His CP mysteriously disappeared about 5 years after we adopted him. Do I believe in miracles? You bet I do!

The 7th is a farrier by trade but works for a Ford dealership in Alaska. He just got married to our lovely new daughter-in-law who gave us 3 wonderful grandchildren and together blessed us even further with our wonderful new grandson on March 21st.

The 8th lives in an apartment (kindof) above the garage. He is 25 and the comedian of the family. He works with my husband and is a great uncle to his nieces and nephews.  Gotta love that face!